Borobudur Timeline

Sometime between 928 and 1006, King Mpu Sindok moved the capital of the Mataram kingdom to East Java after a series of volcanic eruptions; several sources cite this as the most likely period of Borobudur's abandonment.

The monument is mentioned vaguely as late as c. 1365 in Mpu Prapanca's Nagarakretagama, written during the Majapahit era, mentioning 'the vihara in Budur'. Moens says the court poet Mpu Prapanca referred to a holy sanctuary at 'Budur' in 1365.

Image source: Nagarakretagama

Raden Soekmono mentioned the assumption of the temple's abandonment after the population converted to Islam in the 15th century. Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth.

According to the Babad Tanah Jawi (History of Java), the monument was a fatal factor for a rebel who revolted against the king of Mataram in 1709.

Image source: Babad Tanah Jawi

In the Babad Mataram (History of the Mataram Kingdom), the monument was associated with the misfortune of the crown prince of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1757.

Image source: Amangkurat III of Mataram

Following its capture, Java was under British administration from 1811 to 1816.

Image source: Java

On an inspection tour to Semarang in 1814, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro.

Image source: Stamford Raffles

Worldwide knowledge of Borobudur's existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java. He sent Hermann Cornelius, a Dutch engineer who had uncovered the Sewu complex in 1806-07, to investigate.

Image source: Hermann Kessler

Stamford Raffles mentioned 'Bóro Bódo' and described the temple in his 1817 book on Javan history.

Christiaan Lodewijk Hartmann, the resident of the Kedu region, continued Cornelius's work, and in 1835 the whole complex was finally unearthed.

In 1842, Hartmann investigated the main dome, although what he discovered is unknown and the main stupa remains empty.

Jan Frederik Gerrit Brumund was appointed to make a detailed study of the monument, which was completed in 1859.

Image source: Borobudur

The first photograph of the monument was taken in 1872 by the Dutch-Flemish engraver Isidore van Kinsbergen.

Image source: Isidore van Kinsbergen

In 1873, the first monograph of the detailed study of Borobudur was published, followed by its French translation a year later.

In 1896 King Chulalongkorn of Siam visited Java and requested and was allowed to take home eight cartloads of sculptures taken from Borobudur.

Image source: Chulalongkorn

In 1882, the chief inspector of cultural artifacts recommended that Borobudur be entirely disassembled with the relocation of reliefs into museums due to the unstable condition of the monument.

Borobudur attracted attention in 1885 when Dutch engineer Jan Willem IJzerman, chairman of the Archaeological Society in Yogyakarta, discovered that the temple base enclosed a hidden foot. A hidden structure at the base was accidentally discovered in 1885.

Photographs made in 1890-1891 revealed reliefs on the hidden foot; the coverings were then replaced. The encasement base was disassembled to reveal the hidden foot, and the reliefs were photographed by Casijan Chepas between 1890 and 1891.

In 1900, a three-member commission formed to plan protection, and in 1902 the commission submitted a threefold proposal. In 1905 the proposal was approved, with total cost estimated around 48,800 Dutch guilders.

The restoration began in 1907, led by Theodoor van Erp, a Dutch army engineer. Along the way he discovered more improvements; his additional proposal in 1908 was approved with an extra budget of 34,600 guilders. The restoration was completed in 1911 and at first glance Borobudur had been restored to its old glory.

During the restoration in the early 20th century, Theodoor van Erp discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region — Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut — are positioned along a straight line.

Image source: Pawon

In 1968, Soekmono, then head of the Archeological Service of Indonesia, launched his 'Save Borobudur' campaign in an effort to organize a massive restoration project.

In 1973, a master plan to restore Borobudur was created through an Agreement concerning Voluntary Contributions signed in Paris on 29 January 1973, in which Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, France and Germany agreed to contribute to the restoration.

The Indonesian government and UNESCO undertook a complete overhaul of the monument between 1975 and 1982. In 1975 the actual work began, involving around 600 people and costing US$6,901,243.

The largest restoration project was completed in 1983 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, followed by the monument's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After the renovation was finished, UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991.

In January 2012, two German stone-conservation experts spent ten days at the site analyzing the temples. In June, Germany agreed to contribute US$130,000 to UNESCO for a second phase of rehabilitation involving six experts in stone conservation, microbiology, structural engineering and chemical engineering.

Germany returned its collection in 2014 and funded their reattachment and further conservation of the site.

To avoid further wear of stairs' stones, since November 2014 two main sections of Borobudur stairs — the eastern ascending route and northern descending route — have been covered with wooden structures. In March 2015, the Borobudur Conservation Center proposed further sealing the stairs with rubber covers.

In December 2017, the idea to reinstall the chattra on top of Borobudur main stupa's yasthi was revisited, though by early 2018 the chattra restoration had not yet commenced.

Image source: Chatra (umbrella)

A Bodhi Tree planting ceremony was held on the southeastern side of Borobudur on 10 March 1934 under the blessing of Narada Thera, a missionary monk from Sri Lanka visiting Indonesia for the first time, and some Upasakas were ordained as monks.

Image source: Narada Maha Thera

On 21 January 1985, nine stupas were badly damaged by nine bombs. In 1991, a blind Muslim preacher, Husein Ali Al Habsyie, was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the bombings; two other members were each sentenced to 20 years in 1986, and another man received a 13-year prison term.

Image source: 1985 Borobudur bombing

In 2003, residents and small businesses around Borobudur organized several meetings and poetry protests, objecting to a provincial government plan to build a three-storey mall complex dubbed 'Java World'.

One famous rendering of an 8th-century Southeast Asian double outrigger ship is the Borobudur Ship. Today, the actual-size replica that sailed from Indonesia to Africa in 2004 is displayed in the Samudra Raksa Museum, located north of Borobudur.

Image source: Samudra Raksa

On 27 May 2006, an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck the south coast of Central Java, affecting the region around Borobudur.

Image source: 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake

Borobudur was heavily affected by the eruption of Mount Merapi in October and November 2010. UNESCO donated US$3 million towards rehabilitation costs.

Image source: 2010 eruptions of Mount Merapi

In June 2012, Borobudur was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest Buddhist temple.

Image source: Guinness World Records

On 14 February 2014, major tourist attractions including Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko were closed to visitors after being severely affected by volcanic ash from the Kelud volcano eruption in East Java, which erupted on 13 February 2014.

Image source: Kelud

In August 2014, Indonesian police and security forces tightened security in and around Borobudur temple compound as a precaution to a threat posted on social media by a self-proclaimed Indonesian branch of ISIS, citing plans to destroy Borobudur and other statues in Indonesia.

Due to vandalism and graffiti, access to the temple grounds was temporarily blocked in 2020. Since then, a maximum of 1200 visitors are allowed per hour per day accompanied by tourist guides.

According to Statistics Indonesia, the number of domestic tourists rose from 422,930 in 2021 to 1.44 million in 2022.